DHS Shutdown Averted
April 16, 2015Lydon Reviews MTB and FTZ Programs
April 16, 2015According to a New York Times article, Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, has become the point person for both Republican and Democratic hopes for Trade Promotion Authority (TPA.) Both sides seem to agree that TPA is a precursor to the completion of new Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Asia and Europe. Having been burned by the impact of prior FTAs on their local economies, many members of Congress, including Senator Wyden, are loathe to transfer their constitutional powers to approve trade agreements to the President without seeing the details of the FTAs first. Even Senator Wyden, ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, has publicly bemoaned the opacity of the negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Terms for this FTA with 12 Asian countries which are reported to be nearly complete, if they are not already finished. Without some assurance that critical domestic industries will not see a “runaway” impact through the terms of the TPP deal, it appears unlikely that Senator Wyden will rally his colleagues around an effort to pass TPA.